Zarna Garg is Living Her American Dream

Zarna Garg never set out to be a trailblazer. But the comedian keeps shattering glass ceilings—sometimes without even trying.

In a new interview on The Daily Beast Podcast, Garg, 50, detailed her rise from stay at home mother of three to globally-acclaimed comedian.

“I assumed there were lots of Indian women doing comedy in India,” she told host Joanna Coles. “[But] there’s no one in my profile in this whole world that does what I do.”

The comedian and author of New York Times bestseller This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir told Coles a career in comedy was a “preposterous” idea back when she started out in 2019.

Zarna Garg and her daughter, Zoya, at the Power100 luncheon at Marea in New York City. — Zarna Garg and her daughter, Zoya, at the Power 100 luncheon hosted by The Daily Beast’s Joanna Coles at Marea in New York City on November 4, 2025. Sophie Sahara/Sophie Sahara

Just one percent of of stand-up comedians in the United States are South Asian and 38 percent women, according to 2025 data collected by CareerExplorer.

But Garg’s sharp-wit and quips about her family filled a space that was long overlooked. She cut her teeth in New York’s comedy circuit, at first performing for “two or three people” at club—and then her son uploaded a clip from one of her sets on TikTok and her career exploded.

These days, Garg is booked and busy across the globe. In 2023, she opened for comedy legends Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on their Restless Leg Tour, saw her special One in a Billion premiere on Prime Video, and performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia—one of just three women on the lineup.

Most recently, Garg was a featured guest at The Daily Beast’s Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles’ Power 100 luncheon. Hosted at chic Midtown West restaurant Marea in New York City, the event brought together women leaders in fashion, business, media, and more to learn from one another.

Among those in attendance were former Top Chef host and chef Padma Lakshmi, MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, esteemed-lawyer Roberta Kaplan, veteran journalists Katie Couric and Abby Phillip, and political strategist Symone Sanders.

The event unfolded amid Donald Trump’s turbulent second term, which has upended several industries represented in the room. The administration’s attack on comedians reached a high point when ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September in a concession to Trump officials who objected to Kimmel’s comments about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“The goal is for you to all meet each other,” said The Daily Beast Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles’ at Tuesday’s latest Power 100. Sophie Sahara/Sophie Sahara

Zarna Garg her daughter, Zoya, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle and The Daily Beast Chief Creative and Content Officer Joanna Coles’ at the Power100 luncheon at Marea in New York City. — From left: Zarna Garg, MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle, Zoya Garg and The Daily Beast’s Joanna Coles at the Power100 luncheon at Marea in New York City. Sophie Sahara/Sophie Sahara

Coles acknowledged these threats in her remarks and said she and Daily Beast publisher Ben Sherwood are “working very ferociously on maintaining independent media.”

“I always look forward to this lunch, but never more than this year,” Coles said at the event. “It’s been such a long year, and it’s so nice to see so many people working incredibly hard in this room to maintain the values that America holds strong.”

Coles then introduced a lineup of speakers including Garg and her daughter, recent Stanford graduate Zoya Garg.

In her hilarious remarks, Garg said American women helped her find her voice as a comedian.

“American women taught me that I have a right to use my voice, and they taught me that I have a right to my opinions,” she said.

Garg noted that she bears extra responsibility as both a leader in her field and as an Indian immigrant.

“In that part of the world, women have not seen anybody that looks like us do what we do,” she said. Her daughter added that it was “so amazing to be in this room.”

“It’s incredible meeting Uber leadership and New York Times editors—but I can safely say that we are the best at Instagram in this room,” she quipped.

New episodes of The Daily Beast Podcast are released every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Follow our new feed on your favorite podcast platform at beast.pub/dailybeastpod and subscribe on YouTube to watch full episodes.

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